Education Manager, Academy of Rescue & Conservation

IFAW Branding•Yarmouth, MA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Academy of Rescue and Conservation (ARC) is IFAW’s global learning platform, delivering accessible online, in-person, and hybrid training that reflects best practice in animal rescue and conservation. Operating as a cross-programmatic function, ARC builds professional capability across IFAW and among partner and field practitioners worldwide. Reporting to the Director of the Academy of Rescue and Conservation, the Education Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for ARC’s education and capacity-development portfolio. The Education Manager ensures that ARC’s learning initiatives are aligned with organizational priorities, delivered at scale, and supported by effective systems, governance, and evaluation practices. In this role, the Education Manager supervises ARC’s Instructional Design and Training Function, guiding a multidisciplinary network of instructional designers, trainers, subject-matter experts, and external vendors. The Manager oversees ARC’s learning portfolio, platforms, workflows, and standards, ensuring that high-quality learning is delivered consistently across ARC’s five focus areas: Disaster Response; Marine Mammal Rescue; Wildlife Crime Prevention and Response; Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation, and Release; and the Care and Placement of Live Animals Seized in Trade. This includes, but is not limited to dynamic online learning modules, in-person workshops, developing training aides, and supporting the development of an online resource repository in collaboration with ARC’s Knowledge and Policy Manager. The Education Manager will also oversee the administrative, systems, and day-to-day logistics of ARC, including student database management, digital learning and design platforms, external contracts and ensuring ARC’s protocols, processes and procedures are met. The Educational Manager also works closely with ARC’s Knowledge Manager to ensure training materials are properly organized, represented and accessible within ARC’s resource repository.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Instructional Design, Education, Curriculum & Instruction, or related field preferred.
6–8+ years of progressive experience managing education programs, learning portfolios, or learning systems.
Demonstrated ability to translate organizational strategy into executable education initiatives.
Experience overseeing learning technology ecosystems, including LMS administration and vendor coordination.
Proven experience with assessment and evaluation strategies for continuous improvement.
Strong organizational, analytical, and communication skills.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and basic database management; advanced Excel skills.
Effective communication, collaboration, and organizational skills
Comfort in contributing to grant proposals, reports, or donor communications related to education outcomes
Familiarity with program budgets, resource planning, or cost modeling for education initiatives
Proven ability to design assessments and evaluation strategies that measure learning outcomes and inform continuous improvement.
Experience developing and delivering training to both internal and external audiences.
Strong analytical skills and attention to detail; able to produce high-quality work while managing multiple priorities and deadlines.
Willingness to travel occasionally as role requirements dictate.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Instructional Design, Learning Sciences, Education, or related field ideal.
Experience leading large-scale or multi-course learning initiatives.
Training or certification in project/portfolio management or Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
International or multi-country experience; additional language proficiency.

Responsibilities

Lead oversight of ARC’s education and training portfolio across online, hybrid, and in-person delivery modes.
Develop and maintain workplans, priorities, and timelines aligned with ARC strategy and resource capacity.
Coordinate cross-functional planning to balance quality, scalability, innovation, and operational feasibility.
Monitor program performance, risks, and dependencies; recommend adjustments based on data, evaluation findings, and stakeholder feedback.
In partnership with the Knowledge Manager, ensure education materials are properly archived, adapted, and governed within ARC’s resource repository.
Supervise and support instructional designers, trainers, and subject matter experts to ensure learning materials meet ARC instructional design, facilitation and delivery principles.
Establish and maintain instructional design standards, templates, quality benchmarks, and review processes grounded in adult learning theory and inclusive design.
Review and approve curricula, assessments, and learning activities to ensure consistency, effectiveness, and alignment with organizational priorities.
Facilitate collaboration among instructional designers, program teams, and subject matter experts.
Ensure clear ownership boundaries: programs define technical content (“the what”); ARC governs learning design and delivery (“the how”).
Oversee the selection, implementation, and management of ARC’s learning technology ecosystem, including LMS, assessment tools, and content authoring platforms.
Maintain ARC’s acceptable-use protocols for AI-enabled tools across instructional design, content development, assessment, learner support, and program administration.
Ensuring AI-enabled systems and workflows are transparent, appropriate for global and low-resource contexts, and do not compromise learning integrity, cultural relevance, or safeguarding standards.
Applying approved AI tools to support instructional design activities such as content structuring, learning pathway development, formative assessment design, instructional analysis, accessibility adaptation, and localization.
Maintaining transparency in the use of AI during learning development and participating in ARC review and quality-assurance processes.
Identifying opportunities where AI may improve learning design effectiveness or workflow efficiency and communicating these insights to the Education Coordinator.
Serve as the primary liaison with IT teams and external vendors.
Ensure platforms are accessible, secure, user-friendly, and aligned with instructional and reporting needs.
Define governance models for content, data, and platform use; maintain documentation, workflows, and standards.
Support staff training and adoption of digital learning platforms.
In collaboration with Instructional Designers and program staff, establish portfolio-level metrics for evaluating learning effectiveness and outcomes.
Aggregate and analyze learner data and evaluation findings across ARC’s education portfolio.
Use evaluation results to inform continuous improvement, strategic planning, and resource allocation.
Support reporting to leadership, partners, or funders on education outcomes and impact.
Collaborate with internal teams, leadership, partners, and external experts to ensure alignment and transparency.
Represent ARC in discussions on learning outcomes, performance, and lessons learned.
Manage external vendors, consultants, and service agreements related to education delivery.
Provide guidance and technical input to instructors, facilitators, and program staff as needed.
Operationalize ARC's AI adoption decisions within the learning portfolio, translating strategic guidance from the Program Director into clear workflows, use-case boundaries, and quality standards that govern how AI tools are applied across instructional design, content development, and platform management.
Oversee ARC's learning technology ecosystem as AI-assisted tools are integrated, ensuring that LMS configuration, content authoring platforms, and vendor contracts reflect current adoption decisions and that platform governance keeps pace with how those tools are being used in practice.
Ensure that instructional design staff and contracted IDs and SMEs understand and apply ARC's AI use guidelines consistently, providing practical guidance on approved workflows and escalating non-compliance or unresolved edge cases to the Program Director.
Aggregate operational intelligence on AI tool performance — drawing on the Instructional Designer's design-level experience and platform data — and bring well-evidenced recommendations for adoption, adjustment, or discontinuation to the Program Director.
Maintain working knowledge of AI developments relevant to learning operations, including emerging risks around vendor dependency, content provenance, and data privacy, and ensure these are reflected in ARC's platform governance and contractor agreements.